The Washington area’s stop on the professional golf tour is getting a bit of a reboot this year. Again.

The four-day AT&T National tournament will tee off June 28 at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, the first time back at its home course after a two-year diversion to Philadelphia. With its return, organizers are hoping to recapture some of the momentum of its 2007 founding, when the stars aligned so quickly that the PGA Tour CEO predicted it would ascend to “one of the tour’s most prestigious events.”

By all accounts, the tournament is an upgrade over what it replaced: the often irrelevant, sometimes forgotten Booz Allen Classic, which died with a whimper after the 2005 event following years of weak fields and indifference. But experts say the 5-year-old AT&T National hasn’t yet vaulted to the top of the PGA Tour as its birth story suggested it might.

“Given the new reality of the event — and it’s a very good event — it will do fine. But if you compare it on a relative basis to what expectations were in 2007, it clearly doesn’t look as rosy,” said Phil de Picciotto, president of Octagon Athletes and Personalities, a division of McLean-based sports marketing company Octagon Inc.

In 2007, it was hard to imagine any downside. The world’s then-undisputed top sports personality, Tiger Woods, was personally hosting a new tournament at one of the world’s premier golf courses, located in a rapidly growing, affluent region. Along for the ride was AT&T Inc. as title sponsor and a white-hat charity, the Tiger Woods Foundation, as the main beneficiary.

But Woods missed the 2008 event due to injury. He won in 2009, but then his luster was tarnished as his rampant marital infidelities, ensuing divorce and a knee injury forced him off the tour for long stretches in 2010 and 2011. The tournament’s move to Philadelphia — caused by the course’s hosting of the 2011 U.S. Open — also undercut early momentum.

Tournament Director Greg McLaughlin said Woods’ absence hurt the tournament financially, but he’s back now and the shift to Philadelphia didn’t have any lasting effects.

“We’re certainly very pleased with where we stand right now after five years,” said McLaughlin, who is also CEO of the foundation. “We’ve got a great sponsor in AT&T, a lot of support here in Washington, D.C., a good field of professionals and a big purse.”

With Woods as the host, he’ll participate as long as he’s healthy, a major asset. Rob Whittle, CEO of Alexandria advertising firm Williams Whittle, said Woods personally is part of the fundamentals trifecta that gives AT&T National its leg up on competing events, along with Congressional and the sponsor name. “If [Woods] isn’t playing, you lose a third of that.”

In 2008, the tournament drew 92,624 fans without Woods, before nearly doubling a year later when he was healthy.

In raw finances, the tournament compares favorably with the other 53 golf tournaments on the 2012 PGA calendar. AT&T’s $6.5 million purse trumps 38 other tournaments, and most of the larger prize pools belong to major events or playoff tournaments.

But the AT&T National is hampered by scheduling: It’s wedged between the sport’s two biggest events, the mid-June U.S. Open and the mid-July British Open. Experts say many European stars have left the U.S. to prepare for the British event by now, and the media’s interest wanes during the interlude.

This year’s event will occur without 22-year-old superstar Rory McIlroy, who will play in his hometown Irish Open instead. Also, this year’s U.S. Open winner Webb Simpson will likely not play, though the field isn’t finalized until June 22.

In its history, the AT&T National has exceeded average TV ratings for similar tournaments by 25 percent and is 31 percent more valuable than its peers’ averages to advertisers, according to data shared with the PGA Tour, Executive Vice President Ty Votaw said.

Tarik El-Bashir, a former Washington Post reporter who covered the tournament’s early days, said attendance at this year’s event will show whether the AT&T can regain its mojo.

“I think it’ll be pretty apparent on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and we take a look around at the grounds at Congressional and ask, ‘How big are the galleries?’” El-Bashir said. “Are they as strong as they were the first year?”

Tournament officials declined to project attendance for this year. In 2009, the last time the tournament was played at Congressional, about 165,000 people attended over a four-day competition. By comparison, about 124,000 tickets were sold for the three-day New York Yankees-Washington Nationals baseball series in Southeast D.C. in mid-June.

Montgomery County’s conference and visitors bureau anticipates brisk business for hotels, Executive Director Kelly Groff said. But only about 20 to 25 percent of the attendees come from outside the region, said George Washington University sports marketing and tourism professor Lisa Delpy Neirotti.

Perhaps the most important requirement for the tournament’s continued growth is longevity and consistency. The best tournaments develop a sense of community, tradition and passion over a period of years.

“This event was not able to circumvent the usual time frame of growing an event, and it has not yet had the longevity or the consistency in the market to be considered on the path to being one of the premier events on the tour,” de Piccioto said.

Congressional Country Club itself could be the key barrier. When the tournament was first announced, Stuart Long, then Congressional president, told The Washington Post: “Congressional is not interested in becoming a tour stop.” While they’ll defer to the glory of the U.S. Open, well-heeled members of the high-priced club aren’t crazy about ceding access to the tour during prime golfing season every single year.

“The Tiger Woods Foundation would be wise to do whatever they can to appease the membership and somehow extend that deal long term,” El-Bashir said.

AT&T National has a three-year contract with Congressional. The tournament’s location after 2014 is still an open question. “Staying at the same venue, and building your base and your brand over the long-term, I would agree that means a lot,” McLaughlin said.